


Intertwined

by sirius_theseriousone



Category: The Aurora Cycle - Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Childhood Trauma, Comfort, Comfort/Angst, Coming of Age, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Gentle Kissing, Hurt/Comfort, Kissing, Light Angst, My First Work in This Fandom, Oneshot, Originally Posted on FanFiction.Net, POV First Person, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Psychological Trauma, The Pull, soulmate bond but done well bc kal's a respectful boy who cares about what auri wants
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-04
Updated: 2021-01-04
Packaged: 2021-03-14 07:47:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,079
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28542021
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sirius_theseriousone/pseuds/sirius_theseriousone
Summary: Blank stares hold the most meaning out of anything anyone has been able to get out of her. Including me.Maker above, these last couple of months have been messed up.OR Kal has noticed how distant Auri's been since Cat was taken. And he'll be damned if she suffers through anything on her own.
Relationships: Kaliis Gilwraeth/Aurora Jie-Lin O'Malley
Kudos: 8





	Intertwined

**Author's Note:**

  * For [lazy_kitkat](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lazy_kitkat/gifts).



I find Auri standing next to a window, shoulders slumped, head bowed, forehead almost touching the clear, glass pane - the same way I’ve found her every day for the last month. In a way, I don’t blame her for how she feels; she spends two hundred and twenty years trapped, unconscious, in a cryopod, wakes up to find that everyone she knows and loves is dead and then gets dragged on a crazy mission, driven by her bizarre visions, magically-appearing powers and the Terran Defence Force hell-bent upon capturing her. The Ra’haam taking over Cat was, undoubtedly, the last straw for her. Blank stares hold the most meaning out of anything anyone has been able to get out of her. Including me.

_ Maker above, these last couple of months have been messed up. _

Not knowing what in Syldra’s name I’m doing, I walk over and place my hand on Auri’s shoulder, hoping that it mimics a gesture of comfort and hope. Auri tilts her head up and stares at me blankly, and it’s then that I notice the dark circles under her eyes, the tear streaks down her face and her swollen, puffy, red eyes. Her hair is tousled and its white streak is strewn haphazardly throughout the erratic, dark mess.  _ She’s beautiful _ , is my first thought, and I inwardly berate myself because it’s clear that she isn’t looking after herself and that's all I can think of?  _ Shut up and pull yourself together, Kal,  _ I rebuke myself.

This can’t go on any longer - she’s killing herself. My heart throbs and aches at the same time, my clashing thoughts of concern and awe concocting my emotions into disorder. I send up a prayer in hope of not breaking under my self-made pressure and, stumbling over every word, I ask, “A-are you ok?”

“Y-yeah.”  _ Lie. _

“Auri…”

“I’m fine, alright? So you can go. I’m ok. Nothing wrong here,” she says, but I don’t miss the slight choke that escapes her right after. Nor the fact that she is wringing her hands, subconsciously stretching her immensely dry skin to the point that it looks as though it will tear. I can feel the steel in my mouth, the ember of anger within me as I grab her hands and pull them apart, binding them in mine. Auri stares up at me, surprised and confused with the slightest hint of fear lurking in her eyes.

“I’m not going to let you harm and hurt yourself just because you feel some sort of guilt for what the Ra’haam did. What happened to Legionnaire Brannock was in no way your fault, and even then, it provides neither a solid nor justified reason for you to blame yourself for the actions of bloodthirsty, vicious people who seek glory in the pain of others,” I implore, every word drenched in a plea for her to stop the pain she is causing herself and me. As if burned slightly by my gaze, she averts her eyes quickly, eyebrows furrowed in an obvious attempt to block everything out.

“Kal, I am  _ fine _ .”

“It’s clear that you’re not.”

“You don’t understand-”

“Aurora O’Malley, I spent my whole life brought up in a war between our people that sucked the life out of my planet. After that, I saw our star burn up and turn into a black hole and barely escaped with my own life, to say the least of my family’s. Then, when I joined the Legion, I lost my honour amongst my own clan, so that I was not only discriminated against by those outside my clan but those within it as well. Yet, somehow, I’m the one that doesn’t understand?”

By this point, tears are burning the back of my eyes and every inch of concern within me breaks free like horses running wild in a rampage. I take a deep breath and try one more time.

“Auri… I know that you feel like Cat could have been saved if you had been turned over to the TDF earlier. But that would have only put the universe in deeper trouble. And besides, think about what would have happened! The very people who want this universe under their control would’ve had exactly what empowered them and the rest of us would lose our lives anyway. Innocent people would die-”

“What about Cat?”

“Cat is  _ not  _ dead, Auri. We can still save her by defeating the TDF. And we are so many steps ahead of them now simply  _ because _ we didn’t give you over. Auri,” I lift her chin so that her eyes meet mine, “We are blessed in so many ways just because we have you.  _ I am so blessed that we still have you _ . I can’t live without you, Auri.” A tear escapes my eye and my voice breaks a little. “I’m not asking you to ignore how you feel. I just want to know why and I want to know from you. I just want you back. I miss you, Auri - please don’t leave me.”

The tears begin to fall from her eyes too and I hold her in my arms and we stay there for what feels like hours as we just cry into each other, feeling each others’ pain, acknowledging it and accepting that it’s never really going to leave but that we have each other and that means that it’s going to be ok. 

After a while, Auri steps back and dries her eyes and then stares back down at her hands. Only this time, she’s not wringing them, and her skin doesn’t look like it’s about to break.

“I’m sorry, Kal,” she whispers softly. 

“It’s alright. Promise me you’ll tell me when it hurts.”

“I promise.”

With one hand on her waist and one caressing her beautiful,  _ beautiful _ face, I lean in and kiss her, letting her know in that one action that I am here for her and that I’ll always be here. That I love her beyond the stars and all the universes that do or don’t exist and those that may in the future. To my delight, she kisses me back, and in this collapsing, messed up and turbulent world, we’ve found all we’ll ever need to be happy - each other.

“I love you, Kal,” she breathes in the gaps.

“I love you, Auri. I always have and always will.”

We stay there for what feels like years.

Just the two of us. Broken, hurt, but intertwined forever.


End file.
